DanaT

Hey all..

I am in need of some help..

I got done doing the headgasket on the 951 (new studs, rebuilt head, etc).

The car seems to run really nice. Boosts good, no smoke, etc.

I am having one problem.

I seem to be getting oil in the coolant. There isnt any coolant in the oil (which is good).

I didnt have this problem before taking the head off (of coarse i did loose coolant pretty quickly because of the totally rotted headgasket). But even when i drained the coolant, there was no oil in it.

I am assuming that something i did wrong is causing this.

Any ideas?

-Dana

TonyG

How do you know it's oil in the coolant?

DanaT

Tony,

I guess the best way to describe why i think it is oil in the coolant is because when I drained the coolant tank, and oily mess came out after the colant.

It has that slimey green-brown thick consistancy that is like oil and water mixing.

Any ideas where to start looking for the problem.

Checking engine oil..its clean..no indication of coolant in the oil.

Can anyone help????

-Dana

TonyG

DanaT

It's either the head gasket, in which combustion gasses will enter the cooling system and have what appears to be oil in the coolant, or your oil cooler housing has a bad seal.

Those are the obvious choices.

From there, it's either a cracked head, or a cracked block (both unlikely)

Based on your description, I would have the oil cooler pulled and a new FACTORY P0RSCHE gasket installed (do not use aftermarket).

Velvet951

DON"T DRIVE YOUR CAR!!!! I had the same thing in my NA 87 944. Blown or mis-sealed head gasket. I cracked my #1 cyliner. Bye -bye car. New engine. At least now I have a 951. But, more often than not, oil in the coolant means headgasket issues. Don't drive it! I did and paid the ultimate price. Does you temp get real hot even though the coolant is full?

slinky

Headgasket.

I had the same thing happen to my Isuzu Impulse. Thought at first it was a cracked head, but turned out to just be the headgasket.

DanaT

I doubt its the headgasket. Just put a new one on (less than 400 miles). The car runs nice and cool. It runs right at the first mark. With the bad head gasket, it tended to run much hotter and looses coolant.

I am kinda thinking along the line of Tony with bad gaskets in teh oil by-pass area.

Tony, I cant fing any info in the factory manuals about removing the oil/water cooler (which I doubt the 951 has since it has external) but it seems there is a pressure by-pass and must be some sort of block-off where the heat exchanger would normally go.

Do you have any instructions (or where to find themm in the manuals).

Second question. Is this a PITA job? If it will take a while, I may just spend the money and take it to a shop since i want tod rive the car during the summer. What would you expect to pay for a shop to do this?

Thanks
-Dana

Luke

it's you cooler seals. $40 from vertex, pain in the butt to change. easier than HG though. Common failure. i'm doing one right now.

TonyG

Dana

It won't necessarily run hot with a bad head gasket. If the head gasket lets pressure by at full boost, you won't have a temp issue (at least until you start pushing coolant out of the radiator overflow tank overflow).

It's pretty common.

And yes, the 951 has a oil cooler housing. Look at what the oil filter is screwed onto. It's a PITA job, but not as bad as say changing a turbo, etc...

And DO NOT use any seals other than genuine Porsche seals. I speak from experience.

TonyG

Part 2

Are you sure it's oil in the coolant? Because if you have a failing head gasket you will get the same brown crap into the coolant from the combustion gasses.

This will tell you for sure what the problem is.

And just because you just changed the head gasket doesn't mean it's good. All it takes is a little detonation to get combustion gasses past with a stock or wide fire gasket... even with an "O" ringed head.

The only real solution is to use the solid metal 3 piece gaskets. Guru sells them (although I've never tried theirs) and so does Huntley (which I'm currently running). They might be the same gasket! But since I've never seen the Guru gasket, I can't verify.

DanaT

Yes,

I am pretty sure its oil and not combustion gases.

My Reasons for this are:
1) I got about 20 ozs of the crap in the coolant tank from when I drained it.
2) My oil level has dropped about a quart (plus or minus) in 300 miles.

I doubt it is a leaking head gasket due to detonation because I havent run the car past about 10psi since I have put it back together.

I am just deciding now if i should have a shop replace the oil cooler bypass gaskets (faster) or do it myself (cheaper but a PITA).

Tony, do you have the P/N for the gaskets that are needed? I cant identify them cause I cant seem to find a parts list for the heat exchanger by-pass for the 951s.

-Dana

TonyG

DanaT

Sounds like the oil cooler housing seal then.

I do not have the part number here.

But if you look, that entire assembly bolts to the side of the block.

If you go to a Porsche dealer, you can find it easily in the microfiche.

blurry951

Dana,
I went through this situation 3 times on my 951 before I figured it out, but on mine it was the opposite. Water was going into my oil, but no oil into the coolent section. Tony is right about it being a PITA job when the headers are on. When they're off it's a walk in the park. Here are some parts numbers to order your gaskets and O-rings with:

Oil Cooler Gasket- 944 107 147 03
O-ring on Relief Valve- 999 707 043 40
Sealing ring on Relief Valve (source of mixing usually)- N 043 815 3

Hope this helps you out. I hate with a passion the mixing issues these 951's have, but isn't this car always a love, hate relationship.